Whilst sitting about watching the Foosball game yesterday at my buddy Marty Spozzerolia's house the conversation somehow came around to politics. Now - I know better than to discuss politics with most people as most people, from my experience, view their political party much like a rabid sports fan views their favourite team. All that matters is that they win (even if you should happen to cheat a little it's okay as the end will always justify the means) and anyone who likes one of the other teams is a retarded moron who is likely dumber than a box of granola.

This tack serves me well as I can sit back and ask leading questions ad infinitum without ever having to offer up my opinion on the matter. As such I get along with everyone while making a study of what makes the unwashed masses tick. Along those lines my buddy Will Ecklerly said "Hey Bob - are you going to vote for Hillary Clinton?" to which I replied "If I have to" (note the crafty response) which caused Marty's sister to wrinkle her nose and proudly proclaim she would never for that heinous Clinton scalawag. Meanwhile she's looking forward to voting for Rudy Gooliani.

Now personally I think Rudy is like GWB lite in most areas and frankly I find his usage of 9/11 as a political platform quite distasteful, and as such I can't wrap my brain around why anyone would vote for the guy. Sure, he's probably brighter than Bush, but what does it say about a guy who is smart yet seems to hold to the same ideals as a retarded oaf? Ipso Facto baby.

So I said something along the lines of "Yeah - Rudy sure is getting a lot of mileage out of the fact that he was Mayor of NY when it was attacked and thousand of innocent people were murdered." Meanwhile Marty's sister continued on about how much she hates Hillary. I then asked her what Rudy has done that would cause her to cast her vote for him. Her reply was "I just think he's a really smart man."

Now, both you and I know that this means she hasn't got clue one about what Rudy stands for and what his platform is. All she knows is that he was on TV alot after the 9/11 attacks and he said soothing things like "WE'RE GOING TO REBUILD NEW YORK AND MAKE IT BETTER BECAUSE WE'RE AMERICANS AND WE DON'T LET TERRORISM DEFEAT US." OF course Bozo the Clown could have been mayor and he would have known to serve up those exact same platitudes and he too, would now have a good shot at getting the GOP nomination for 08.

But more to the point this little exercise speaks to one major lesson that I, it would seem, have failed to learn. Mainly that I can't underestimate the ability of the unwashed USian masses to vote for someone who doesn't best serve the interests of the Americian people. When Bush was elected in 04 I was shocked that someone who was a massive failure as President could get elected, even though the alternative, one John Kerry, wasn't much of an alternative. But instead of learning the lesson I went into denial, I put my hands over my ears and shouted LA LA LA LA LA LA - like it didn't really happen or the next time it would certainly be different. But you know what? I was wrong. I don't know that it will be different, in fact if the 04 election were held again today it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the same results.

So there you have it.